"Scottish ministers have control over many of the levers to promote long-term sustainable growth in Scotland and they must use them to create opportunities for Scots."

First Minister Alex Salmond said the recession had been both shorter and shallower in Scotland compared with the UK as a whole.

"The action taken by the Scottish government has had a positive impact," he said.

"We accelerated capital investment at the height of the recession and over the year to March workforce construction jobs were up by 19,000, or 11.6%, in Scotland - compared to a fall of 5,200, or 0.2%, across the UK

"Our no compulsory redundancy policy for staff under our responsibility is helping to boost consumer confidence, and our commitment to the social wage - including the council tax freeze, no tuition fees, free prescriptions, and free concessionary travel - is giving Scots households maximum protection at a time when other bills and inflation are on a sharply rising curve."

Andy Willox, Scottish policy convener of the Federation of Small Businesses, said unemployment and the fear of unemployment would continue to hit consumer and business confidence.

He added: "But we can help our small businesses break this damaging cycle and create the jobs we need.

"We can use the tax regime to make it as affordable as possible for small businesses to take on staff; we can make sure they can access the finance they need; and we can put job creation and retention at the heart of the business support network."